Cover for bottle-cap corks.



R. G. KOCH.

CQVERFOR BOTTLE CAP CORKS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-21,1915- RENEWED JUNE 21,1911.

1 ,238 1 56, Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

UNTTED STATES PATENT @FFKQE.

REINHOLD GUSTAV KOCH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORi-TO SILVER, CROWN DISK COMPANY, INC.-, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 191%.

Application filed September 21, 1915, Serial No. 51,770. Renewed June 21, 1917. Serial No. 176,249.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, REINHOLD G. KooH, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Covers for Bottle-Cap Corks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to covers for hottle cap corks, and is intended to protect and preserve the cork disk from deterioration by exposure to the air, so that for an indefinite period of time the cork remains yielding and to a certain extent elastic. Furthermore, it is intended as an object of this invention to produce, as a new article of manufacture, a cover for bottle cap corks comprising on one surface, termed in this description the outer surface, a layer of metal foil to prevent the contact of the liquid in a bottle with the cork disk. An intermediate sheet of flexible material having a fusible coating of soft rubber onits surface next to the metal foil, and a coating or layer of gutta percha on its other or inner surface, is caused by suitable heating to adhere to the foil and to the cork disk, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the construction and arrangement of the elements of this invention. Figure 1 repre: sents a bottom or plan view of an ordinary bottle cap provided with a cork disk. Fi 2 is a cross-section of a bottle cap, the cor disk of which is protected by this invention. Owing to the fact that the paper intermediate sheet, the coating of adhesive and elastic materials thereon, and the metal foil outer layer, are each relatively very thin, and cannot be adequately illustrated in a drawing such as Fig. 2 of actual 'size, a descriptive view, Fig. 3,is introduced to show the various elements of this invention. Fig. 3 shows a cross-section of a bottle cap, to the cork of which this invention is applied, and the scale of drawing has been considerably increased. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the neck of a bottle, the mouth of the bottle being closed by means of a bottle cap provided with this invention, and shown in cross-section;

Throughout the drawings and description, the same letter is employed to refer to the same part.

Considering the drawings, the metal cap A is provided with the usual cork disk a. It is advantageous to place in the shells or metal caps A, a mixture of tartaric acid, gum arabic and rosin, which when heat is applied act-s'to stick the cork. disk to the 650 cap. The layer of adhesive for that-purpose in Fig. 3 of the drawings is marked by the reference letter B.

As best set forth in the descriptive illustration Fig. 3, there are shown below the 5 cork disk a, four layers of material. The layer C immediately next to the lower surface of the cork is gutta percha. The-sec- 0nd layer from the cork is the intermediate sheet of tough paper. I do not limit myself to the use of any particular ln'nd of aper, but, prefer tough paper with somea sorbcnt and elastic quality. The reference letter D marks the intermediate paper sheet. The

third sheet from the cork disk is a layer of soft vulcanized rubber E, and the surface sheet is tin foil or other metal foil F. When the four layers of material are properly arranged as described and placed in an oven and heated to a point below that of boiling water, the gutta percha and rubber soften". and will adhere to and protect the cork disk. The gutta percha also adheres to and partlypermeates the paper sheet. The soft vulcanized rubber also softens by-the heat, ad-

hering to the paper sheet and to the tinfoil outer surface. It will be noted that the intermediate paper sheet which forms the body layer of this invention is initself absorbent or interstitial and more or less compressible. It will also be observed that the adhering layer of soft rubber and the fusible-layer of gutta percha are insoluble in water. It has been stated that the metal foil is the outer layer, and directly covers the is protected by the cap, and its lower surface is fully .covered and shielded from the air. The rubber layer E, protected as it is by the tinfoil, remains soft and yielding for an indefinite'period of time, and when the cap provlded with this invention is applied to the mouth of a bottle G, the yieldmg rubber layer acts to prevent the tinfoil p from being torn bythe usual capping pres sure, although the covering as well as the cork are necessarily distorted as shown in Fig. 4. v

In practice it has been found that a very large proportion of the cork disks used are defective, either by reason of natural perforations or failure of the substance of the cork through age or other causes. It somei times happens that the cork disk has a disagreeable taste or odor, which is communicated to the contents of the bottle, particularly, if the bottle has been closed by the cap for some time. invention, the metal foil "surface F is directly against the mouth of the bottle and exposed to the liquid within it. There is neither taste nor smell from the metal foil no matter how long the bottle remains capped, and, even if the cork disk is a bad one its ill effect cannot reach the interior of the bottle.

While cork is mentioned as the impervious member or layer of the composite disk for bottle caps herein specified, any selected substitute for cork may be used as the body of the disk, provided the outer layer of metal foil is adequately protected against rupture by a sufficient backing layer or layers of yielding material-substantially as 'an outer layer of metal foil, an insoluble By the use of this layer of soft vulcanized rubber arranged next to the metal foil and adhesively attached thereto, a body layer of flexible and compressible material arranged next to the said rubber layer, and the rubber layer being adhesively attached to the said body layer, and a layer of fusible adhesive material arranged next to the other side of the said body layer and adhesively attached thereto.

3. As a new article ,of manufacture, a cover for bottle cap corks, comprising an outer surface layer of metal foil, an intermediate sheet of flexible material, an adhesive coating of soft rubber connecting the said sheet and metal foil, and a fusible coating or layer of gutta percha applied to the inner side of the said sheet.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a cover for bottle .cap corks, comprising an outer surface layer of metal foil, an intermediate sheet of paper, an adhesive coating of soft rubber connecting the said sheet and the metal foil, and a fusible coating or layer of gutta percha applied to the other side of the said sheet.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a disk for the interior of a bottle cap, comprising an outer layer of metal foil, an insoluble layer of soft vulcanized rubber arranged next to the metal foil and adhesively attached thereto, a body layer of absorbent and compressible material arranged next to the said rubber layer, and the said ruber layer being adhesively attached to the said body layer and partly absorbed thereby, and a layer of fusible adhesive material arranged next to the other side of the said body layer, the said fusible material being adhesively attached to the said body layer and partly absorbedethereby.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

REINHOLD GUSTAV KOCH. 

